LV student arrested after handgun found

Wednesday, March 7, 2001 | 10:53 a.m.

Concerned students at Western High School gave authorities information that led to the arrest one of their peers after a handgun was found inside a car in the school's parking lot Tuesday.

A 17-year-old junior was arrested on two counts of possession of a weapon on school property, and one count of possession of an unregistered firearm, Clark County School Police spokesman Sgt. Ken Young said.

"Other students stepped forward and reported that this student had a gun in his car," Young said. "Officers responded to the vehicle, and visibly identified a gun through the windows. We really applaud the students who came forward and made this report."

The 17-year-old did not take the gun inside the high school, 4601 W. Bonanza Road, and had recently purchased it from an adult for problems he was having outside of school, Young said.

"The student told us that he had been having problems after school off of school grounds, and that he wasn't intending to bring the gun into the school," Young said.

Police also confiscated a knife found in the student's car, and investigators are looking into who sold the student the gun, Young said.

A total of 16 guns have been confiscated on Clark County School grounds this year, but that number includes BB guns and other nonlethal firearms.